the storm, after things are setting to get back to normal. the emergency has been lifted in the district and federal offices in the washington area are open after a two-hour delay. the bitter cold continues as the

cleanup from the snow and the ice -- the real question is when does it finally warm up? >> will it ever warm up? use words we need to like warmer. .o we are warmer now it was so cold this morning that we did break a few records. here's a look at some of the temperatures where we bottomed out at this morning. 14 degrees at reagan national, so no record there. but look at this. negative one at dulles airport. not only was i a record on march 4, but it was also an all-time low. that is extremely cold across the region. we are also breaking some records at bwi. this. look at it was zero in winchester and 6 degrees in hagerstown. we are warming things up for the

significantly. we are in the middle of 20's at this hour. up aboven't make it the freezing mark. we do expect to stay below freezing until tomorrow afternoon when we finally make it into the 30's. we have 40's and even a few 50's and the forecast. more on that coming up in a few minutes. however, we have a little ways to go and maybe a little snow in our seven-day as well. >> right now, we are hearing of complete gridlock in downtown d.c. >> amanda meadows joins us now with more on this mess. >> that's right. we have bumper-to-bumper conditions downtown around the convention center. a couple of different things that are contributing to this right now. we will start out with this live shot. this will be along new york avenue. it is just slammed around this area.

police officer right there beside the cones, they have police directing traffic around that area along l and m street as well as oceans of 14th. 14thhad -- as well as street. they have closed down streets all over the area. that is combining with the two-hour delay for a lot of d.c. workers. that is what is causing all of this gridlock. it will take a while for it to clear out. concerty, for the aipac in the convention center, they have closures along beach drive. so keep that in mind. >> thank you. eric dane coverage of this winter weather now continues. xd slick roads created a

dangerous situation for this morning's commute. >> we have to take it easy here. i thought it would be more clear. >> tires are spinning. salt truck operators are exhausted. and drivers are fed up. hours after the d.c. areas latest snowstorm, the roads are still a mess with cars unable to find traction. while crews in -- while folks in gaithersburg are still clearing sidewalks and driveways, many are surprised to see how much snow and ice remains packed on secondary and main roads. >> i am disappointed. i thought the county -- maybe they're just exhausted from the storms we have had. >> this latest winter blast coated services -- coated surfaces with snow and sleet and rain. >> this is so bad. , you know. it is dangerous. >> the road is very slippery and

it is very hard to drive. >> not only dealing with an ic drive, but with extremely cold weather making her tires go flat. are not eventreets cleared so i am fishtailing all over the place. >> my gas tank was frozen shut. >> the problem is that the temperature is so low, 10 degrees here in montgomery isnty, this slush re-freezing. >> they'll he had cowboys and steelers. so adding insult to injury. in gaithersburg, john gonzalez. commute was slow and slick on the beltway as well. this is the scene from news chopper seven. to two lanesown because of an overturned tractor-trailer near the american legion bridge. a few minutes and a few miles

away, this car spun out near river road. the driver suffered minor injuries when the car hit a tree. is the eastbound dulles toll road was another tractor-trailer went off the roadway. emergency crews had to block one lane. highly, back on the beltway and back at river road, this suv ended up on its side. we are told that driver was not hurt. make sure you stay connected to the weather and abc 7 on the go through twitter, facebook or wjla.com. the recall case against loudoun county supervisor eugene delgadillo is back in court today. the case was delayed last month after the judge recused himself. a new judge will now oversee this case. the d.c. council is expected to vote soon on a bill to

decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana. >> irene carter has more on how this could affect the nation's capital. >> council takes up the issue again today. the measure is up for a final vote, making possession of less than an ounce. people caught smoking pot in public will face criminal penalties. we could see more changes before the day's end. he expects some council members to compose -- to propose amendments before the final vote today, including an amendment for drug testing when it comes to job applicants. >> there are a number of things be aved, it will no longer reason to arrest you, to detain be aecause it will now

civil fine, a $25 fine. >> according to a study conducted by the american civil liberties union, 5000 people are arrested every year in d.c. for possession of marijuana. african-americans are eight times more likely to be arrested even though they use the drug allegedly at an equal rate. we will continue to cover this. theresident obama -- budget. it includes several tax proposals meant to help low and middle income families. the white house says it will benefit parents, students and those saving for retirement but it is unlikely the congress will adopt much from the president budget proposal since it is a midterm election year. coming up, we reveal when you

can expect peak boom for -- peak d.c.'s cherry blossoms. >> and a consumer alert you need to know before you hit an atm. let's let the good time role. we will look at the festivities at the big easy for fat tuesday. >> and taking a live look

the united states is showing its support today for ukraine's new leadership. meanwhile, russia's president vladimir putin seems to have

softened his stance on ukraine. alex is in ukraine with the very latest. >> [chanting] marched, they sang ukraine's national anthem. then shots, a warning from russian forces not to come any closer. >> don't go any further, when russians older -- one russian soldier said. these unarmed ukrainian troops were trying to march to their airfield seized by the russians. after four hours of test initiation, ukrainian troops returned to their base. not succeeded but nor was there any bloodshed. we do not want a war with russia. across crimea, russian forces are demanding the surrender of ukrainian bases. in some places, they have succeeded. ukrainian troops are digging in. russia has now controlled all of crimea.

today, president vladimir wootton defended russia's action and did not rule out using force elsewhere in ukraine. national interest to defend these people, he said. it is a humanitarian mission. secretary of state john kerry arrived in the capital of kiev yesterday for a meeting. the u.s. has slammed russia, accusing it of invading and occupying ukraine and is preparing economic sanctions. >> we are examining a whole , economic,teps diplomatic, that will isolate russia. >> so far, threats of isolation have done nothing to deter putin as his forces continue to take control here in crimea. ukrainian places in crimea are holding out so far but putin could change things very quickly carried -- quickly. >> the first witness in the pistorius murder trial broke down today in cross-examination.

his neighbor was overcome by emotion after two days of testimony. earlier in the day, the judge ordered an investigation into allegations that a tv station broadcast a picture of that woman. >> i am warning the media come if you do not behave, you are not going to be treated with soft gloves by this court. is on trial for killing his girlfriend on valentine's day last year. the olympic runner claims he thought he was firing at an intruder. educators say the couple that into a fight the night of the shooting. banks are racing this noon to upgrade their atms before they become prime targets for hackers. this has to do with windows xp get an and the missed -- an estimated 95% of atms run on that system. but microsoft is killing off tech support on april 8. so now banks are working to

replace of their fleet. >> security experts uncovered a fake tech support scam targeting netflix and gmail users. people seeking technical support are told to call a phone number but it is hackers who answer the phone and then they ask you to download software, allowing them to remotely control your machine. while one hacker asked for personal information, and other goes through your machine looking for information. >> today is national pancake day. customers can get a free short stack of pancakes at participating ihop restaurants until 10:00 tonight. ihop is asking for donations to the american children's miracle hospitals. >> pancakes for lunch. >> you can have them anytime. and you can enjoy your snow day with free pancakes. in the meantime, we are looking ahead to spring which is 16 days away. >> but who is counting? the national park service revealed its production for pete bloom. we are nowhere near it.

envision as it may be, the winter landscape of snow and ice will soon give way to one of washington's finest sites. >> just imagining the pink. >> cherry blossoms in full bloom. >> the spirit of the season is here and we are are just excited. we want to be done with the cold. >> the spirit of spring is starting to inflate as organizers of the cherry blossom festival commemorating 102nd anniversary of japan's gift of 3000 trees to america as a sign of friendship. enjoy cherryan blossoms this year and to share the experience with american citizens. >> festivities begin march 20 and go until april 13. three-weekif -- a festivity.

the question is when will the blossoms bnp bo -- when will the blossoms be in peak bloom. >> no matter when you come, you always have something fun to do. ♪ year, appreciation for the warmth and beauty of it all may run even deeper. last year, we for started seeing green buds sprout up on these trees on march 11 followed by peak bloom on april might. hopefully, this year, we are not too far behind. >> here is hoping. say?at do you >> it is a hard thing to predict. sometimes the weather can be tough. it has been fun. can blame the snow, kind of, for the cold temperatures this

morning. there is a look at the snowpack across the mid-atlantic. you can see it is covered all across our region and even across a good chunk of north carolina and a few parts in south carolina. we have the snow cover on the ground. all the heat that comes in, the energy from the sun gets reflected back into space and helps us to achieve some of those record lows this morning. let's check out a couple of these weatherbug cameras. bethesda, they have 27 degrees at the congressional country club. see things, you can start to get cleared off a little bit. laurel, maryland is 25 degrees and the wind is calm. and frederick, maryland, your temperature is 20 degrees. 25 is our temperature at reagan national airport with a wind

chill at 25. the wind is relatively calm. there is a thin veil of cloud cover this morning. just some high thin clouds, no big deal to report. i think that will thin out a little bit through the afternoon. manassas, 34 degrees, really? let's make sure that that is working properly. that is a little high compared to the other temperatures across the region. 24, 25 in the seat, and 22 degrees in frederick. so we are making progress. the cold air is spreading all across the east but there is a bubble back here and to the plains. we will watch temperatures slowly turned to normal temperatures. by the weekend, we have a few things to get through first. in the satellite picture, you see the high thin cloud cover that i think will thin out. we have wintry weather happening across parts of the deep south.

of course, mardi gras going on in new orleans. the next system is making its way across the mountains. a coastal system could impact us on thursday night and into friday morning with a little bit of a wintry mix. we will keep an i on it. if you are traveling today, things look pretty good across the exceptions of parts of louisiana and texas. we have airport delays in san francisco. high temperatures tomorrow will continue to stay on the cool side. below average in the upper 30's to around 40 degrees. you can see highs will make it around 30 degrees. tonight won't be brutally bad as last night. cloudy, 35 toly 40 degrees. and our seven-day forecast will the week.to end otherwise, 50's for the rest of the weekend. that's not too bad. -- e can achieve that

>> at this point, 50 three looks outstanding. >> 45. >> ok. >> 32. >> i think we can do that. >> coming up, find out which real housewives star is in federal court right now.

-- teresa gduses and her husband joe are back in court today facing possible prison time over 41 counts of fraud. the couple pled guilty as part of a the deal with federal prosecutors's. they are accused of engaging in mail, wire fraud, and bankruptcy fraud for over a decade.

a very exciting morning for abc. get ready for another season of "dancing with the stars." year's cast was revealed on good morning america and includes a famous game show host, gold-medal athletes, as well as several actors. charlieestants are wright and meryl davis, drew carey, and candace cameron and danica mckellar. diana nyad, nene leakes, cody simpson, amy purdy, james maslow, and the one and only billy dee williams. are most guess, you excited to see nene leakes? >> yes, and dj tanner. tuesday, theat

last day of the carnival season. some rain and temperatures are theinterfering with festivities. tomorrow is ash wednesday for christians, marking the first day of lent. >> a little bit of rain and cold temperatures for them and of course it is real

>> still cold out there? >> warmer.

the low 30'sin today.